The Little Mermaid
by fhclause
Summary: He would laugh and smile and be proud when the main character be something great. After all, wasn't Makoto merely the side character? MakoGou. Smut/Lemon


**The Little Mermaid**

_Free! (c) __Kyoto Animation_

_The Little Mermaid © fhclause_

Tachibana Makoto believed in fairy tales.

He believed in fairy tales ever since he learned how to read. Not to say he was girly or believed himself to be a prince charming who would swoop his princess off her feet and ride towards the sunset, but he believed in happy endings. He believed in magic—not the fairy godmother type, but miracles that made you cry with happiness. He believed that striving forward to your goal, no matter the obstacle, would gain you that happily ever after. And most importantly, he believed in _hope_.

So that was why, when he heard the splashing of water and saw how it reflected the blue sky, as if it becoming the sky itself, he was instantly mesmerized. Warmth spread in his small chest as he watched the small waves of the water in the swimming pool. The rise and fall of every tide whispered him stories like pop-up books and from then on, Makoto decided to join the Iwatobi Swimming Club.

He tugged Haru along, cajoled him to join along with him and when he saw Haru swam for the first time, he believed that mermaid _did_ exist.

Haru's newfound talent opened a world of fairy tales for him, and Makoto trained every day, so he can be a part of it too.

He hoped to be a mermaid too.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Yeah, Haru-chan!"

"Haruka-senpai!"

"Go! Go! Haruka-san!"

Makoto chuckled at the over enthusiastic cheer of his three friends. It was the summer break over in Japan and none of them had any impending assignments to be done, so the four of them decided to visit Rin and Haru in Australia.

Having said that, and as former members of a swimming club themselves, of course they had to see the improvement of the two; Japan's future national swim team. Where they practiced, what skills they learned, how good were they compared to two years ago, how they compete with other national athletes…

They fired all sorts of questions until Rin rolled his eyes in frustration and brought them all to the stadium.

Makoto smiled proudly while the three beside him cheered when Haru touched the panel first. The swimmers down below were just practicing; they were hardly competing, but seeing Haru swimming again made them all giddy with nostalgia. Nagisa and Rei decided to go down to greet Haru personally, dashing to the nearest exit, leaving him and Gou alone against the railing.

Makoto saw her waved at the dark-haired man who responded with a nod and out of no where, a feeling akin to regret filled him. He tried to cover it with a smile. "He swims like a mermaid, doesn't he?"

"Hmm?" Gou blinked, almost missed the whispered words if it wasn't because she was standing right next to him. There was a solemn scent in the air that she wasn't used to when Makoto was around, but Gou recently learned that the man who was always generous with his smiles standing beside her had his uncharacteristic moment.

He probably had always been like this, moments where he slipped but got picked back up by his childhood friend—his _best_ friend—before he smiled to the world again. But now that Makoto was bereft of Haru, who was far away on the other side of the ocean, or perhaps because she was the only familiarity left in an unknown big city who studied in the same university and course as he was, or perhaps Nagisa was too bright and Rei was too serious, Makoto gradually shared his hopes and dreams and worries with her and in return, she kept them all under lock and key and guarded them from anyone who would use them against him.

Gou wouldn't fool herself though. She wasn't Haru—heck, she wasn't any of the boys who probably knew Makoto better than she ever would—but she would try her best. "Mermaid, huh? Hmm…" She shrugged. "Maybe."

Green eyes blinked in curiously. "Maybe?"

She smiled at him. "I think he's more of a hydromaniac. And besides, don't mermaids—the original lore, that is—sing and lull people in before they eat them? I don't think Haruka-san would eat anything else other than mackerels."

There was a small, startled pause when suddenly, a chuckle—a real, _free_ laughter—was heard. A bubble of pride spread in her chest and she inwardly gave herself a pat in the back. Makoto now grinned at her. "What about Rin?"

"Onii-chan?" She raised a ridiculous eyebrow. "I think he'd raise hell before anyone could say 'mermaid'. And nope," she interrupted when Makoto opened his mouth. "Nagisa-kun probably wadded like a penguin while singing and Rei-kun…hmm, he'd need another fifty years to be a mermaid."

"What about me?"

Gou stared at those green eyes, still sparkled with amusement, but something else was laced in them too; of what, she couldn't tell. "You were."

"Were?"

That one word felt like something trying to crawl out of his skin until he realized it was merely his hair stood up on his skin. Was he? Was he a mermaid once? And why was it in past tense? Did his fairy tale began and ended without _him_ realizing it?

This young woman who always watched them practice and trained until the sun set, who knew their talents and their limits, would of course knew better. So, he had to know; he had to confirm it.

"And now?"

Instead of giving him an answer, she leaned in and gave him a smile. Not that cheeky smirk she had when she thought of a 'brilliant' plan. Not the big grin she had when her brother finally called her. Not that entranced smile when flexes of muscles flashed in front of her.

No. This smile was small. It told him nothing but gave him everything that made the tiny hope in the corner of his heart spread like wildfire.

Maybe his story hadn't actually ended yet.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Makoto had always secretly portrayed Haru as that little mermaid he saw in that movie. But instead of having a green scaly tail, he would have an ocean blue ones. Instead of having his voice taken by an evil octopus lady, he was cursed since he was born to be reserved and quiet.

And then, Makoto would appoint himself to be that yellow flounder, who followed Haru everywhere, who helped him with whatever he can, who covered his blunders for him, who talked about anything he could think of just to hear Haru's voice, so the curse can be lifted.

But Haru was stubborn despite his countenance and he didn't want his curse to be lifted. At least, not when everyone was forcing him to.

So, Makoto let him be. Let Haru discover the world on his own while still supported him from behind. And he was glad he waited, because the dark-haired boy slowly opened his world to the people around him. Now, Makoto just needed to wait for the prince(ss) to come and lift the curse forever.

When it happened though, when the curse was finally lifted, when _Haru_ took the _first_ step and embraced the girl with the long, red hair into a crushing hug and murmured things in her ear, Makoto came into a hollowed realization.

He would always be that happy character who would always be happy for the main character but would never got the happy ending himself.

He ignored the lurch in his stomach and said goodbye to Australia.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Why?"

Red orbs blinked as she paused from stacking the floating board. "What do you mean?"

Makoto reached out a hand and balanced the boards when they were almost toppled over. It was still the summer break and both of them decided that it was better to take part-time jobs than rotting away studying (Rei) or having too much fun they forget themselves (Nagisa) all the time. So, after pulling a small favour from Coach Sasabe, both of them became the coach's assistants.

Makoto elaborated his question, "Why didn't you learn how to swim?"

Gou tilted her head as if thinking, then shrugged casually. "Never got the time for it, I guess. I mean, sure, I was interested in learning it when I saw onii-chan or otou-san swam, but I guess I'm more interested in watching them than learning. And after otou-san passed away…" She glanced away for a second before smiling back at him. "I don't have anyone else to teach me."

Makoto lowered his eyes, contemplating whether he should broach deeper. "What about Rin?" he asked softly, as if afraid he was breaking some kind of a taboo. But he was relieved when she rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"Onii-chan always went 'I'm gonna be like dad!' or 'Sousuke, let's swim!', that I think he forgot I existed most of the time. And then he moved away and Sousuke-kun rarely came over after that, so…" she trailed off with a chuckle.

Suddenly, Makoto realized that the young woman in front of him wasn't that much different from Haru when he was a child. Because of Haru's quiet persona, no one really liked to approach him, let alone be friends with him. And his parents weren't always home, usually on business for weeks and sometimes months. But unlike Haru, who slowly gained friends over the years, Gou seemed to lose the people around her; one by one. He wondered if her outgoing personality and her stubborn streak was a way of her deflecting the loneliness.

He wondered if she felt lonely at all.

But Makoto refused to wonder so deeply over a past that could not be changed, so he focused on this moment instead. "How about you learn now?"

"Huh?"

"It'll be a good lesson, considering our majors. Our shifts will be over soon too, so we can go to the deeper pool and you can learn how to swim. Unless," Makoto paused with a teasing smile. "You want to try the kid's pool first so you won't drown?"

"Hey!" She smacked his arm and he laughed. "It's not as if I never tried to swim!"

"Oh?"

Her eyes narrowed daringly. "I know how to float."

Makoto grinned. "Then, you have to show me."

It didn't take a big effort on his part because Gou really knew how to float and she could kick the water without submerging while doing it. But he kept the hands on her arms steady because she kept on putting her head in the water for too long and came out sputtering water out of her mouth. After a few more practice, Gou could already swim a short freestyle.

He leaned against the pool's wall as he watched her afloat, staring beyond the glassed ceiling to the sky above. "It's like swimming in the sky," he heard her murmured.

He wasn't sure if it was because he was so surprised by the parallel of her thoughts when he swam backstroke for the first time or if he was too consumed by the nostalgia of the words, but when Gou suddenly dipped into the water with such unexpected grace from a beginner, and came out with a big splash to his face, he could only sputter nonsense.

Then, they laughed and kept splashing each other's face until one of them gave up.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Makoto learned that Gou didn't like the ocean that much.

No, she wasn't afraid of it like he did, but merely mindful enough of its unpredictable behaviour to ever really go deeper into the water or dive into it to appreciate the colourful sea creatures it harbours.

He understood her—after that storm, anyone affected would understand—but he didn't want her to disregard her worries as something silly, so he admitted his fears of the ocean, the story of that old fisherman, the goldfish and their graves at the back of his garden, what really happened during their camping at the beach a few years back and how fearless he felt, for that very short moment, when he jumped into the raging water to save Rei and how hopeless he felt when a sudden terror consumed him.

Instead of assuaging Gou, it had an opposite effect. A look of horror crossed her face before she frowned angrily and smacked his arm and scolded him for not telling her his fears before they went to the camp. He laughed it off and told her that Haru, Nagisa and Rei were there, and that the experience actually made him less afraid of the never-ending ocean.

With a puff, she admitted that the sea wasn't what made her uneasy, but the people who were believed to live in it. She stumbled upon an encyclopaedia once she was little and learned about the horrible history of mermaids. Since then, she would always come running to her father before he went out to the sea and told him to plug his ears so he won't hear the mermaids sing and eat him. Her father would laugh it off and ruffle her hair and promise to be back safe. When he didn't, Gou stayed far away from anything related to the ocean.

But now she was a grown up, she knew mermaids didn't exist and it was all just a stupid myths anyway.

Makoto wished he could think that way.

**.**

**.**

**.**

They never argued.

Usually, he would go along with whatever plan she had in mind and sometimes when he disagreed, they would discuss the subject until either he acquiesced or she compromised.

And then it happened…

Their argument was petty because it wasn't even about anything important or even anything they could remember if they tried to, but the shouts were loud enough to wake the whole apartment.

It was as bad as his first argument with Haru.

He braced himself when her arms shot out to smack him, only to grab his collar roughly and shut him up in a bruising kiss. Still boiling with rage, he retaliated by removing her hairband and burying his fingers into her hair and bit her lip. Then she started to loosen the buckle of his pants as he pushed her against the wall. He lifted her skirt, almost ripped her panties in all hastiness and he didn't care that his pants were still pooling around his calf, because, _fuck_, she was so hot and tight and _wet_ for him.

He drove in and out of her with such urgency that Makoto was afraid he would hurt her. But when he tried to slow down, she groaned in protest and buried her fingers deep into his back. So he complied, and brought her legs up to wrap around his waist—her panties were still dangled around one of her ankles—and moaned deep in appreciation when he grazed her womb. Their kiss was sloppy because he was trying to go deeper, faster into her. But when she tightened her legs with a gasp, he focused on hitting her sweet spot until she cried out his name, "Makoto, Makoto, Makoto..." over and over again, like a mantra.

"Makoto!" she shouted and exploded around him and he groaned in despair because he wanted to prolong her pleasure, but her walls were milking him like crazy that after a few strokes, he burst in her, deep inside. They were still breathing hard, still engaged together when Makoto trapped the legs around his waist and cupped her bottom cheeks, carrying her to his bed. He kept her mouth occupied with kisses because he didn't want her to think. He settled her on the soft mattress and started to remove her clothes. When she was stark naked, Gou didn't even once avert her eyes or fidget when his gaze appreciated her form. He found her bravery so sexy—because it was so Gou; he was aroused by her all over again. There was a demanding tug on his shirt and with a soft laugh, he removed it. He wanted to make love to her—slowly this time—so she would feel and memorize all his touches, kisses and marks and to make her understand that the only one who could do this to her was _him_.

Makoto started with the lobe of her ear, traced down to her jawline, her cheeks, her nose, her eyebrows and finally to the corner of her lips. But he still didn't kissed her and Gou was getting impatient, so she turned and kissed him instead. When felt his smile on her lips and his laugh reverberating against her chest though, Gou pulled the back of his hair a bit harder than she should, as a little revenge.

She moaned in disappointment when he pulled away but that moan quickly turned to pleasure when his warm hands cupped her breasts. He gently squeezed, experimenting the softness in his hands while watching her face to see where she liked to be touched the best. All the while, his thumbs caressed the underline of her breast then up to her pink areola, then down again, but never to the place where she wanted him the most, just like how he didn't kiss her until she demanded him to. God damn it, didn't he understand her nipples were painfully needy right now and she just need him to—

"Oh!" she gasped with a buck of her hips. Makoto squeezed and sucked as much of her mound of flesh that he could take in his mouth, grazing the nipples roughly with his teeth, only to gently lick it by the end of it. He did this for a few times and it didn't help when his other hand on her other breast were following the action of his mouth; a hard pinch when he was rough, a soft flick when he was gentle. Then his mouth moved to other still dry breast, doing the same thing with his tongue and hands that Gou felt her mind was starting to go blank with all the pleasure.

His greedy mouth didn't stop there, and started to kiss and lick downwards, pausing briefly near her belly button to gently pry open her legs. Mind still hazy, Gou somehow knew what was he going to do next and froze. Sensing her hesitation, Makoto glanced at her. He smiled gently and shuffled until her legs were resting comfortably on his shoulders. Never taking his eyes off her, he gave a quick peck on her right knee before following down until he stopped on her inner thigh, very close to her clits. Gou stared at those green eyes that were still watching her, unable to look away for a reason. Then she gasped when he bit her thigh, sucked and licked, as if he want to imprint something there. One of his fingers brushed her entrance idly before buried itself in her. It wasn't deep, merely and inch or so, but it didn't stop her inner muscles from clenching because she suddenly remembered what they did against the wall, how he was pouring deep inside of her. The traces must still had been there, because his fingers were curling around as if mixing their essence together and that thought alone almost brought Gou to edge.

But before she could, both the finger and his mouth stopped. She didn't know when she had closed her eyes, but when she looked back, there was a twinkle of mischief in Makoto's eyes that she never seen and it made her blush. The stained finger was circling gently around her inner thigh, around the lovemark he left there. "A reminder," he said. "For next time. But for now..."

He moved again and rested his forearms beside her head. She could the head of his member brushing her entrance and then dipped inside. But it wasn't deep enough that she groaned in frustration. "Makoto, stop teasing me."

"Gou-chan. Gou-chan, look at me." When she looked at him, he rested his forehead on hers. "Gou-chan. I want you to feel me. I want you feel every inch of me. Okay?" She nodded and he pushed deeper. "Feel me, Gou-chan. Feel me," he repeated and with every word, he went deeper. When he was deep enough, Gou's legs automatically locked around his waist and he groaned in appreciation. "Gou-chan..."

Then, he pulled out and pushed back in, pumping steadily. It wasn't slow nor was it fast, but hard and deep that Gou bounced with every push. But it wasn't enough for Gou; with all the slow build up since just now and the fire that still wasn't smothered when his finger was in her, Gou needed more. "Makoto...Makoto, please. I need... ah! Ha...I need... faster. Faster. Please!"

"Gou-chan..."

But he didn't change his pace, only going harder into her that she screamed with every thrust. "Please! Makoto, Makoto! I need you to, to—ah! Mako—Aaah!"

He kept going even when she trembled uncontrollably under him, prolonging her orgasm. "Yes, Gou-chan...yes..."

"Makoto..." she whispered when she cooled down. With his hips never stopped thrusting, Gou cupped the face above her, pulling him down for a kiss. He groaned into her mouth and started to go faster. She felt desire in her belly again. "Makoto, come for me."

"Gou-chan...Ugh! You're...tightening again...!" he bit out.

"Makoto—aah!" she moaned when he hit her sweet spot again. "Let's come together, Makoto. Please."

"Gou-chan." He kissed her, swallowed her moans while driving in and out of her, as if he couldn't get enough of her. She probably knew he was close too, because she started to buck her hips harder against him and her inner muscles clenched tighter around him every time he was inside. It drove him mad, so when she clenched again, he burst inside her. "Nngh! Gou-chan!"

"Makoto!" she shouted as she came, appreciating the warm liquid gushing inside of her, feeling his hips jerked against her legs as he poured every single drop.

When they were both well satisfied and the euphoria finally subsided, they settled in each other's arms, with him staring straight at the ceiling and her tracing the lines of his abs, silently naming each muscle there.

Then, a moment of weakness struck.

"I've always thought it would be Haru," his voice, even though it was barely a whisper, sounded loud to his ears. He felt her shuffled and he knew she was looking at him, but he stubbornly kept his gaze forward. "I always thought you'd choose Haru."

Because who wouldn't? Who wouldn't choose the main character? Who wouldn't choose to be the savior and save the mermaid from the curse and be the main character themselves?

He felt her moved again and Makoto closed his eyes because he didn't want to see the disappointment on her face nor did he want to see the reflection of his face—his _insecurities_—in her eyes. But he snapped his eyes open with a gasp when gentle lips brushed against his temple.

"Silly man," she softly chided, but there was no real anger in her gaze, just acceptance and love that the hope sleeping in his chest tickled with awareness. Before he could quash that feeling from truly blossomed—hope was something cruel to have after all—tender lips brushed his opened lips, trailed down to his jaw, his neck, his collarbone and further down and down...

He felt tears prickled at the corner of his eyes and he knew it wasn't all because of the desire stirred in his belly again, but because the way how she kissed him. It was the way how her lips tasted his skin, tasted _him_, as if he was the most precious treasure she had ever possessed. When she licked away his tears and brushed her entrance against his stiff member, he groaned.

"Gou-chan..."

But he didn't need to elaborate any further as she eased him into her and took every inch of him. And when she started to move, shooting stars filled the back of his eyelids and magic tickled his skin and the fairy tale he written for Haru was rewritten into a new story.

A story where _he_ was this woman's main character.

And that was all he need.

* * *

><p><strong>I couldn't sleep last night because this freaking story kept on replaying in my head and now I have a super headache. And with this headache and<strong>** this sudden muse, I just had to get it out of my system and write it down. Keeping the muse in didn't work especially if you'd just finished rereading an awesome fanfiction (The Number 4 by Mahi-Mahi, an UlquiHime ff).**

**Now, I will get my sleep.**

**Also, thanks for reading and please, kindly leave a review.**

**_Update 29/12/14_: **

**I had to rewrite certain part of this story, because, fudge it, the hotness that is MakoGou doesn't want to go away so I had to make this fic a legitimate smut. I also changed the summary of the story, so it'd fit better with the theme I had in mind.**

**Also, have you ever seen Princess Tutu? Despite its name (and yes, it _is_ about ballerina), this anime is one of my top five favourite. But never judge the book by its cover. The twists, the plot, the characters and that _freaking_ ending...! **

**But what I love the most about it thought is the character development in this anime is so great and wonderful; something you rarely see in most fancy anime nowadays. ****There is a Princess Tutu Promotional trailer if you want to see, but I would say that the trailer barely touches what Princess Tutu is all about**. **If you've watched it before and remember who Fakir and Ahiru (or Duck, as the dub and some sub goes) though, just think Makoto and Gou as the characters respectively. It'll make sense.**


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